Caged Birds
by AddisonZhang
Summary: Sasuke has returned to the Hidden Leaf, bent on destroying each and every Leaf shinobi. The horror unfolds when he captures some members of Team Gai, and Neji is forced to watch as Tenten is tortured.
1. Prologue

_Damn it, damn it_…Neji Hyuga thought angrily as he felt the chakra stalling inside of his body. Damn Sasuke and his damned Mangekyo Sharingan that could do all things! If only Neji had known before this encounter that Itachi had transferred his visual prowess to his little brother at the moment of death…if only he had known that, then Neji and Tenten might have had a chance against the prodigal Uchiha.

By using his Sharingan to copy Neji's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palm technique, Sasuke had been able to immobilize Neji first and now he was after Tenten, too. Never imagining that a non-Hyuga would be able to master that jutsu, Neji had been unprepared to defend. Now he was lying face-down on the forest floor watching helplessly as Sasuke overwhelmed her.

_Come on, Tenten!_ Neji thought desperately. _Don't let your guard down, don't let him get to you_. He saw her throw kunai after kunai at Sasuke. Her aim was usually perfect and even if she was a little off, her paper bombs usually finished the job. But Sasuke was impossibly fast and her attacks weren't doing anything to stop him.

"Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palm Jutsu," Neji heard Sasuke say. His voice was cold and relaxed, relishing in the power his new skills brought him. Neji couldn't see Sasuke's face, but he could imagine the smug grin he must have—having taken down Neji with his own technique. Soon Tenten, too, had fallen, helpless. Her chakra completely blocked by Sasuke's attack._ No_, Neji thought, gritting his teeth.

"That's a very useful jutsu, Neji," Sasuke droned. He stepped closer to Tenten's motionless form and nudged her body with his foot.

Neji frowned. "What do you want with us, Uchiha?" he growled from the ground. He didn't like the way Sasuke was poking Tenten. In fact, it made Neji's blood boil, but he had to remain calm for now.

"I'm back in the Hidden Leaf Village for one purpose," Sasuke said, almost proudly. "To destroy it." He turned away from Tenten and walked over to where Neji lay. Neji watched his slippered feet approaching. They made no sound on the soft grass. "Yes, I will destroy the Hidden Leaf because of what it has done to my brother and to the Uchiha Clan. Starting with all of the Leaf Ninjas." Before the words could even fully register in Neji's brain, he felt the sharp force of Sasuke's foot kicking him in the head, and then everything was blackness.

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When he awoke again, Neji had no idea where he was. His head was throbbing with every heartbeat and his body was burning and sore from enduring the sixty-four palms. Where am I? he wondered. He opened his eyes but only darkness greeted him. Soon, he realized that he was slumped over, kneeling down on the ground. He tried to summon the strength to rise, but he couldn't. Besides, his arms were fasted to the wall in chains. Movement was almost impossible.

_Tenten_! Her name came to him like a pang. Where was she? Was she hurt? He had to know. "Byakugan," he said harshly. His eyes shot open, radiating their strange greyish-white color. Now he could see. Neji scanned the room, looking for her. Moving his head to and fro hurt badly but he didn't care.

"Tenten," he said when he saw her. He maintained his calm Hyuga tone. "Tenten, are you alright?" She was also chained to the wall, only a few feet away from him. Her chin hung only inches away from her chest. Was she conscious? "Tenten!" he called again.

With a little gasp, Tenten's head popped up. Her eyes frantically looked around in the dark. Neji could see how huge her pupils were, trying to suck in any ounce of light, but without the Byakugan she would never be able to see.

"It's ok Tenten," he said softly. "I'm here."

She faced the sound of his voice blindly. "Neji…" her voice trailed off. She sounded frightened. "Where…where are we?"

"I'm not sure…" Neji used his eyes to look around the room once more, this time taking in the lay of things instead of just frantically searching for his partner. It was a big empty room with four stones walls. There was a door on the far wall. One single light bulb hung from the ceiling in the center of the room. "Looks like…some kind of cell," he said, trying to hide the nervousness that he was feeling from Tenten. He could already see that her heart rate and breathing were accelerated from the fear of uncertainty. What could Sasuke possible be planning?

"I can't believe that Sasuke would seek us out and attack us like that," Tenten ventured. Before they'd run into the rouge ninja, Neji and Tenten had been on route to a new mission. Sasuke had appeared out of no where and attacked them without warning. Yes, she'd known that he wasn't stable for a long time…that he was working with Orochimaru even. But she'd never expected that he would pose an imminent threat to her or Neji.

Neji relaxed his Byakugan eyes and sighed. "Don't worry, Tenten. We'll get out of this. Before, we didn't realize how capable he was. Now that we know, I'm sure he won't stand a chance against two ninja like us." He hoped that his words had comforted her at least a little, but inside Neji wasn't sure that it was true. How could they possibly fight Sasuke when their chakra was blocked and they were stuck in a prison cell in chains?

**Hello****~! This is my first attempt at a fanfic so please please review but be nice! I've just started this story but I'm a fast writer. If you enjoy it and have any thoughts on what you'd like to see happen, please let me know. I am more than open to suggestions.  
**


	2. Chapter 1

A sliver of light invaded the darkness of Neji and Tenten's prison cell as the big door opened slightly. Neji felt his body involuntarily tense up as more and more light poured into the room, burning their eyes and making them squint. They had become accustomed to the darkness. The tall, dark silhouette of a man stood in the mouth of the door in sharp contrast to the gleam. The hilt of a katana jutted out from his back.

Sasuke.

"Ah ha, I see you're both awake again. Good," came Sasuke's voice from the doorframe. He took a step into the room and the door slammed shut behind him, making Tenten flinch. Once again, the darkness obscured everything.

Neji activated his Byakugan, not wanting to lose track of Sasuke for even a second. He watched from the floor as the other man strode to the middle of the room in the darkness and pulled the little string that hung from the light bulb. A new kind of light filled the room. This one was soft and yellow.

Relaxing his eyes, Neji quickly glanced at Tenten. He saw that she was blinking a lot, trying to readjust to the new light. Her face held a pained expression. How long had they waited in darkness? Twenty minutes? An hour or two? He wasn't sure.

Then Neji turned back to face Sasuke. Sure enough, the smug expression that everyone had grown used to was plastered all over the Uchiha's face, making him look powerful and frightening. His black hair hung in long tendrils down the sides of his face. He smirked down at his new prisoners.

"It's been a long time," he said slowly, as if reminiscing about old friends. "I'm sure that I've missed a lot while I was away. Won't you tell me what you've all been up to?" Sasuke's tone seemed friendly and melodic, almost enough to make them believe that he really missed them and cared to hear an update about their personal lives, but Neji knew better. This was all just an act. Just mockery.

He scowled. "Let us go, Uchiha. Other Leaf ninja will be here soon. You don't want to be discovered back in the village."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yes. We've all finally come to the consensus that you are beyond help and need to be viewed as an enemy of the Hidden Leaf. You won't get away with your actions if you stay here. Even Naruto has finally come to his senses."

"Naruto," Sasuke laughed coldly, "is a pathetic loser and a hothead. He's no threat to someone like me." He came a few paces closer to where Neji and Tenten knelt, chained to the stone wall. "And you, Neji Hyuga, are a terrible liar. No one is coming for you, are they? Last I heard, you were promoted to jonin. You and Tenten were off on your own little mission, weren't you?"

Neji kept a straight face as Sasuke's deep, inky eyes bore into his light grey ones. Their gazes locked onto one another, testing the other's will. Sasuke was frightening, but Neji had always been incredibly strong. He rarely showed any emotion other than irritation. To him, floundering around whining and getting truly upset about things was a sign of weakness. Even though he had grown to like that bumbling blonde ninja, Naruto, Neji still thought that the boy's excessive passion for things was annoying and shameful.

Just by looking at Sasuke's fierce gaze, Neji could tell that the Uchiha meant business. There was steel in his eyes. Neji shifted against the shackles, hoping to find some weakness, but he only succeeded in chaffing his wrists further.

Sasuke laughed. "Don't waste your strength. Those chains are infused with my chakra and since you currently have none: you're trapped." It was true. And with a quick check, Neji also discovered that all of his weapons had been taken while he was unconscious. Probably Tenten's as well. Now he felt really trapped. Before he had much of a chance to think about this new stumbling block any further, Sasuke broke into his thoughts, saying, "You're a proud man, Neji, just like me. I completely understand you. I respected you for a while—purely out of rivalry, you understand. But trust me when I say: I will destroy you. I will destroy you both. I will destroy every ninja in the Hidden Leaf! And then I will finally have my revenge."

Tenten made a little scoffing noise. "You can't seriously think that you'll succeed, can you?" she snapped. Neji's eyes widened in surprise. What was she doing? She went on, saying, "You're not strong enough to kill every ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village, Sasuke. Come on, be reasonable."

Sasuke glared down at the girl and furrowed his brow. He was clearly annoyed at her outburst. "Who ever said anything about killing everyone?" he asked, his voice low.

Neji swallowed hard. He could sense that Sasuke's heart rate had risen in anger, and it was all directed at Tenten. He wanted to say something to divert the tension from her, but he didn't have a chance. Sasuke's expression had darkened and he stiffened slightly. Suddenly, he scrunched up his face as if he was in pain. He made a little noise and then, a second later the curse mark on his neck flashed a fiery red. Then, like a wriggling growth, a white snake emerged from each side of his neck. Tenten's eyes widened in surprise as the snakes grew and slithered out toward her. Their tongues flicked in and out between fangs and they hissed menacingly.

_Impossible!_ Neji thought. He was horrified, yet he maintained his calm expression. _This can only be the work of Orochimaru_.

Sasuke drew his katana and rushed over to where Tenten knelt against the wall. Neji's heart leapt in his chest. "Stop!" he said sharply, unconsciously. But Sasuke didn't stop. His blade swung through the air with lighting speed.

_Tenten!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Tenten?!_ Neji screamed frantically in his mind. His calm expression had faltered when Sasuke swung the blade wildly toward the pretty Leaf ninja. For a moment, Neji couldn't breathe. Whatever air was inside of him trembled in his lungs, terrified.

But to his surprise, the katana's swing was not followed by any screams or sounds of slicing flesh. Instead, Tenten's chains had been sliced clean through, releasing her from the wall. Her arms dropped to her sides. Neji shivered with relief and tried to regain his serious façade.

For a moment he had thought….Tenten…

But the feeling of relief couldn't last. Tenten was only free for a split second before the twin snakes protruding from Sasuke's neck wrapped tightly around her arms, twisting and twirling around her thin, muscular limbs and tightening until she winced in pain. They jerked back toward Sasuke, lifting Tenten's body into the air.

She gave a small gasp of surprise as she was pulled forward in midair. The snakes could grow and shrink in length however Sasuke pleased. They jerked her forward until she was hovering only inches away from Sasuke's nose. She scowled at him and wriggled fiercely against his snakes, but the more she struggled the more they squeezed her arms.

Sasuke chuckled at her. "You've always been over confident, Tenten. Ever since the first time anyone saw you fight—way back in the chunin exams when you battled against Temari—even then it was obvious to us all that you're weak." He spat the final word in her face like the taunt that it was.

Neji resented Sasuke's words intensely. How dare he slander his partner like that? Sasuke had no idea how strong Tenten was. She may not have been blessed with kekkei genkai or had the power of a tailed beast forced upon her, but she was still an amazing ninja and a wonderful team mate.

"Don't waste what little strength you have struggling against my snakes," Sasuke advised her. "If Neji can't even beat me, then you are beyond hopeless." He flashed her a wicked smile. "Now tell me, little Tenten, will I have to kill you in order to destroy you?" He clicked his tongue and shook his head, "No, I don't think so. Breaking you shouldn't take long at all. And once you're out of the way…" Sasuke let his voice trail off and he shot Neji a pointed glance.

He did a double take. Instead of the usual nothing expression that he had expected, Sasuke was shocked to see a flicker of fear and the man's face…and something else, too. As soon as he saw it, Neji quickly hid the expression and returned to the glassy calm. But it was too late. Sasuke stared at him for a moment. He looked at Tenten. He looked back to Neji and his wicked grin grew like the Cheshire Cat.

Then he laughed a crazy, psychotic cackle that made the hair on the back of Neji and Tenten's necks stand up straight.

"Wow, Neji! I never…" he shook his head in shock. "I _never_ would have guessed." Sasuke looked at Tenten again. There was veiled fear and confusion in her chocolate eyes. "Did you know?" he asked her. He laughed again. "Who would have thought that the emotionless Neji Hyuga care about someone else? I guess I didn't understand you as well as I thought I did."

Neji's nose crinkled in anger. How could Sasuke have known how he felt about Tenten just from a glance? Could his Sharingan have given the information away? No…he doubted that even Sharingan could read people's deepest emotions as the Byakugan could. Neji cursed himself. How could he have been so careless with his expression? He had never even told _Tenten_ how much he cared about her! And now Sasuke knew and could use it against him.

"Well that just makes my job even easier!" Sasuke said. "It'll be two birds with one stone."

Swift as the blink of an eye, Sasuke's snakes jerked Tenten hard, slamming her backward into the stone wall. A pained cry escaped her lips. Then the katana was out and flashing again in the light. Tenten gasped as Sasuke pressed the tip of the blade against her chest.

"Sasuke…" Neji said slowly, a warning note in his voice.

He ignored him and dragged the tip of the katana down the front of Tenten, splitting her tunic shirt down the middle and slightly cutting her soft tummy along the way. She gave a hiss of pain. The bindings that covered her chest had been cut apart as well, leaving her half exposed.

"What's wrong, little Tenten?" Sasuke teased, lowering the katana and peeling the bindings aside with his right hand.

"Sasuke!" Neji snapped, growing more and more angry as the Uchiha removed Tenten's upper body clothing bit by bit. She turned her face away from him and toward Neji. Her eyes were closed, but Neji could see how red her face had become. She scowled and snapped her mouth shut as Sasuke brushed a hand over her chest. Angry and ashamed as she was, Neji knew that she would never give this bastard the satisfaction of acknowledging what he was doing to her.

But Sasuke was undeterred. He rubbed his thumb over her nipple and squeezed her medium sized, bouncy breast with his other hand. She scrunched her face up a bit tighter. "What, is it cold in here?" Sasuke sneered. "You're nipples are hard already, Tenten."

Neji scowled. "Whatever your conflict is with Konoha, this is completely unacceptable, Sasuke. No ninja would behave this way toward another. Not even a missing-nin like you."

Sasuke ignored him completely and went on tormenting Tenten. "I like these breasts of yours, Tenten," he said, fondling them and twisting her large pink nipples with his thumb and forefingers.

Tenten gritted her teeth angrily. "Don't touch me!"

Sasuke slapped her hard across the face. "Stop!" Neji shouted. But Sasuke hit her again and growled,

"Now you're both starting to get on my nerves."

The snakes got longer and swung Tenten's body through the air and across the room, slamming her down on the floor a few feet away from where Neji knelt in chains. He tried not to gasp at the horrible sound when she hit the ground. He bit his lip to keep from saying her name. Was she ok? It must have hurt a lot. Her bare back had scraped against the stone floor. Neji almost asked if she was alright, but he stopped himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he had noticed how Sasuke watched him while he threw Tenten on the ground. The brutality wasn't meant to hurt Tenten alone. It was meant to hurt Neji, too.

Neji felt a chill wash over his body with this realization. The more that Sasuke's attacks on Tenten appeared to upset Neji, the more successful they would be.

_ I have to pretend that I don't care_, Neji thought,_ that way maybe he won't continue. He's doing it to get to me._

Yes, that's what he had to do, but his chest already ached from seeing the look of pain on Tenten's face and her burning shame from being so exposed and vulnerable to their eyes. Neji wasn't sure that he would be able to do it.

**Hi guys~**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Things will get even darker in the next one. **

**Suggestions and reviews are MUCH appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 3

Since the first moment that he'd met her, Neji had always regarded Tenten as the strongest female shinobi in the Hidden Leaf village. She was confident in herself despite her weaknesses. She was always training harder than all of the other girls, and she was a huge encouragement to both him and Lee when they were growing up on Team Gai. When he'd been training for the chunin exams, it was Tenten who had stayed by his side from dawn until dusk. Not even their sensei had been so devoted.

She always did her best and never once had he heard her complaining. No, Tenten was no whiner. She was strong. So seeing her have to fight so hard against crying out as Sasuke's snakes thrashed her around the room and dragged her half-naked body over the rough stone floor was painful to watch.

_Don't show any emotion_, Neji told himself over and over again. But it was harder than he had imagined.

Sasuke didn't stop dragging her back and forth across the room until the skin on her previously smooth back was raw. Neji could see her trembling in silent pain, her eyes narrowed angrily at her attacker. With his Byukugan, Neji could tell just how much pain she was actually in. As soon as he knew, he wished that he didn't.

From the floor not far from him, Tenten turned her eyes on Neji just for a moment. His heart fluttered as their eyes locked. He fought with all of his strength to maintain an expression that communicated his indifference toward her. It was meant to discourage Sasuke, but having Tenten look at him like that was a new curveball. Her eyes sought comfort but he could not show her any. He hated himself instantly. He knew that his cold eyes had hurt her but it was for her own good. At least, he hoped it would pay off. It had to!

Tenten squeezed her eyes shut and looked like she was about to cry.

_It's just an act, Tenten…I'm sorry… _

"What's wrong? Sasuke said coldly. "Crying already? I knew you were weak but this is pathetic. How can you even call yourself a shinobi?"

Tenten snapped her head back to face him and half-growled, "Shut up, you son of a bitch! You don't know anything about me."

"I think I'm about to." He reached down to touch her again, and this time as he did a new snake appeared from around his back. It coiled at her ankles around her pant legs and began inching them away. She squirmed against them with all of her might, but the snakes were just too strong thanks to Orochimaru and Sasuke's combined chakra. Before long, the snakes had removed every last scrap of clothing from her body.

Neji felt his own face turn a bit red at the sight of Tenten's naked body. He had never seen her like this before. He'd often wanted to, yes, but being perpetually practical as he was, he had never told her explicitly about his feelings for her because he hadn't wanted it to get in the way of their missions. But inside of his own heart, he had often imagined them one day lying side my side, naked and vulnerable, yet safe…together. Seeing her frightened and bare before Sasuke's predator eyes made him seethe.

"Let….me….go!" Tenten cried, trying and failing to cover her nakedness. The snakes were keeping her arms and legs apart and rendering them useless for her defense.

"Um…no," Sasuke said smugly. His cold black eyes moved slowly over her body. He licked his lips much like Orochimaru often did. "No, little Tenten. No. And I'll tell you why not. It's because the most important thing in this world is not friendship like Naruto thinks. It's not peace or order. It's not even _love_." He glanced at Neji and spat the word like a curse. "No. The most important thing in the world is power. It's strength. And I, thanks so Orochimaru and Itachi, have finally achieved true strength. You, Tenten, are weak. And in this world, the weak only exist to serve the whims of those who are strong."

He crouched down on the far side of her and traced his hand down the front of her body, stopping once he'd reached the V of her thighs. Tenten bit her lip. "Today, little Tenten, you're going to serve my whims. Because you are weak and I am strong."

Neji could feel his heart pounding and chugging like an old engine. He looked away from the disturbing scene of Sasuke fondling his partner and stared at the stone floor. What was he supposed to do? Sit by and watch as this bastard raped Tenten and pretend like he didn't care?

"You don't mind, do you Neji?" Sasuke was saying, snapping Neji out of his internal struggle. He glanced up and immediately froze. In the moments that he'd looked away, Sasuke had removed his own pants and was kneeling over Tenten, pumping his long, hard member up to full size in his fist.

Tenten was fighting back angry tears. No matter what she tried, all of her attempts to escape failed. She was stuck, completely at Sasuke's mercy. But Sasuke didn't make any moves. He simply knelt there watching Neji, waiting for a response, motionless except for the hand which moved up and down.

Neji took a deep breath. What should he say? What expression would discourage Sasuke the most? Did it even matter at this point? At last, he said, "This is ridiculous. Your quarrel isn't with Tenten. Why don't you pick on someone who has a better chance against you, hmm?" His icy tone barely concealed rising panic.

Sasuke smirked. "My quarrel is with Konoha. Every inch of it." And as he said it, he reached out between Tenten's legs and dragged a finger over her soft folds. Neji could see how Tenten fought the urge to make any noises.

He crinkled his nose, losing his calm. "Stop this immediately. You're about to rape a fellow ninja!" He could barely say the word 'rape' in connection to Tenten. He half-choked on it. Summoning all of his strength, Neji continued, "Why do you feel like you have to do this? For your brother's sake? To honor his memory? Do you truly believe that torturing and raping people who have never done you any harm is what Itachi would want?"

That struck a chord with Sasuke. He furrowed his brow. "Don't you dare talk about Itachi like you knew him! Don't even say his name, you worthless piece of shit!"

He leapt up and stalked over to where Neji was chained, helpless. With one quick move, his hand flew and struck the Hyuga across the face. For a second, Neji couldn't close his mouth because the pain surprised him. Sasuke's chakra was indeed very strong. The blow had been powerful, but he was Neji Hyuga and one little slap couldn't deter him. He had to take the heat off of Tenten.

Sasuke grabbed Neji's chin and jerked his head up to face him. He snarled in his face, "I will destroy you, Neji Hyuga. You're nothing! Do you hear me? And no matter how much you try to pretend, it won't do you any good. You lost this the moment I saw that flicker on your face. I know that you care about her—that you_ love_ her, even. But she's mine now. And there's _nothing_ you can do about it." And with that, he smacked Neji again and stalked back to where Tenten lay struggling, hatred leaping like flames in his black eyes.


	5. Chapter 4

**Warning: This chapter contains dark themes including rape, if you don't think you can handle it, feel free to skip it and wait for the next chapter.**

**As always, review review review~**

Neji could do nothing but watch as Sasuke dug his fingers into the soft flesh of Tenten's hips and jerked her forward toward his waiting erection. Every muscle in her body tried desperately to pull away from him but she couldn't budge. Her face was contorted with silent fear. Sasuke watched her try to keep her mouth shut and laughed low in his throat.

"So proud. Just like Neji." He pressed the tip of his erection against her and watched her try to squirm away from the inevitable. "It's ok, Tenten, you can beg if you want. I bet Neji would like to hear that in his sleep every night for the rest of his life."

Her eyes widened. "Sasuke!" she gasped, disgusted and horrified. How could anyone be so cruel?

"On second thought," he went on, smirking, rubbing against her, trying to elicit some moisture, "don't beg _me, I_ don't give a shit. Cry for Neji to help you. That's your best bet of someone who might care one way or another."

"No!" Tenten coughed out, "I'll never do that to him. Never!"

"We'll see." He pressed the tip of his erection inside of her. "Any last objections, Neji?"

Neji could no longer control his expressions. He could no longer pretend not to care. All of that had proved useless. He gritted his teeth, furious. Face still stinging with pain from Sasuke's attack, he growled, "Do not do this. Go ahead and destroy _me_ if you like, but leave Tenten alone."

Sasuke flashed him a dry smile. "Nah…I doubt you'd feel half as good as her." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he stabbed hard into Tenten's body. She let out a cry of pain that wrenched Neji's heart. She couldn't help it, it hurt so badly. He was brutal inside of her.

Sasuke had meant to be violent, but he was surprised at the gushes of warm, crimson blood that enveloped his penis and pulsed out of her stretched opening. "What have we here? A little virgin?" he laughed, pumping his hips hard. Tenten bit her lips to keep from screaming any more than she already was. "What, you never let Neji fuck you before?"

A new snake grew from just above Sasuke's navel. It slithered forward, brushing over Tenten's stomach and around her breasts before its head settled against her jaw. Its tongue snaked in and out, tickling her.

"So I'm the first person to have little Tenten, then?"

"Stop!" Neji cried. The slapping sound of Tenten's butt against Sasuke's thighs made him feel like he was going to throw up.

"Go ahead and try to stop it," Sasuke taunted him. "God, Tenten's pussy feels so good!" He pulled out and jabbed into her again all in one stroke. A muffled shriek nearly escaped her lips. Sasuke's breathing was getting heavier and little moans of pleasure came out of him. "Go on, Tenten! Ask Neji why he won't come and help you."

She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.

"No? Oh, so you like it then." He paused in talking and made a strange noise. "No…no, no, no," he muttered, clenching his teeth. The jarring rhythm stopped for a second. "No…I'm going to make this last so you two can enjoy every single second of it. Both of you!" Coming to some sort of mental resolution, he went on pumping into her again.

Neji felt bile rise up in the back of his throat. He choked it down. "Tenten…" he moaned.

"Ooooooh Tenten~!" Sasuke mocked, rolling his hips hard, violating every point within her. By then smears of blood had painted his thighs red. Pathetic, choked whimpers bubbled out of her unwillingly. "Fuck yeah! You know what? Since I was the first one to take you like this, I think we should commemorate the occasion."

The snake that rested on Tenten's throat raised its head and hovered over her face for a moment. She stared at it, fear emanating from her. Two rivers of tears streamed down the sides of her face: tears of both of pain and humiliation at being penetrated, and in front of Neji, too! It was more than she could bear.

Suddenly, the snake flicked its head forward, faster than the blink of an eye, and clamped its jaws down on Tenten's chin. Her silence broke with a shriek that made Neji's blood run cold.

"Tenten!"

Sasuke laughed cruelly. "Oh it hurts, doesn't it?"

The snake's inch long fangs had sunk all the way into Tenten's chin. Twin drops of blood came running down onto her throat. She screamed again when the snake pulled its fangs out. They dripped, spattering blood down onto her chest.

She moaned and cried, finally overwhelmed by it all. "Neji….Neji!"

Tears pricked at Neji's eyes. "What did you do to her?!" he yelled at Sasuke.

"Come on, Byukugan! Use those precious eyes of yours. I know you can tell exactly what I'm doing to her. In fact, why don't you watch from the inside when I come."

"No, no, no don't!" Tenten blubbered. "Don't…don't come inside of me, please!"

"No? You don't want me to?" He made a harsh sound and slammed deep inside of her again with great force. She gasped and cried out in pain. "Who's going to stop me?"

"Neji…" Tenten sobbed. Blood was gushing from the bite on her chin and oozing out from between her legs. "Neji, please! Help me….please…"

A sob caught in Neji's throat. He wanted desperately to help her, to do something, anything! He jerked hard against the chains until his wrists were bruised and bloodied, but they were just too strong. He was helpless to protect her.

He pressed his eyes shut and to his shame, tears squeezed out. He didn't want to see Tenten's body thrashed around on the ground, so deeply violated by Sasuke. He didn't want to see all of the blood or the expressions of pain on her face. He couldn't bear to see the tears that poured out of her big brown eyes. But even with his eyes shut he still couldn't escape the rape. The gut-wrenching sound of their bodies smacking together still tormented his ears. Sasuke's harsh breathing and moans of pleasure, Tenten crying and whimpering out his name.

"Neji, Neji…."

A sob broke out from between his teeth.

Suddenly, Tenten's wails stopped. Neji's eyes popped open and he saw that Sasuke had leaned over her, his hand squeezing her throat and choking the sounds away.

"Sasuke! No, please don't!" Neji cried.

With four or five harsh moans, Sasuke shot his release into Tenten's body. Her eyes bulged, desperate for air.

"_Please_…" Neji's voice broke.

Finished with his climax, Sasuke released Tenten's throat. She gasped and sputtered for oxygen. New and even more guttural sobs started up all over again as she realized what he had done. He remained inside of her for a few moments before getting up, his snakes dissolving back into his body. He retrieved his pants from the floor not far away and slipped them on. The only sounds in the stone room for several minutes were those of Tenten sobbing and Neji crying softly, unable to stop.

After a long time, Sasuke finally stooped down once more. Crouching over Tenten, he said quietly, "Don't worry, the snake bite isn't poisonous. It is permanent, however." He moved his thumb over her chin, wiping the blood away to reveal to holes the diameter of the snake's fangs. They had sunk deep into the bone. He pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and, rolling Tenten over onto her stomach, he fastened them on her, trapping her yet again. "Get some sleep," Sasuke said, rising to leave. "I'll be back in the morning."

As he left, he paused in the doorway to caste another smug glance at Neji, but instead he saw the Hyuga's head drooped down, tears silently falling from his chin.


	6. Chapter 5

The door shut again with a click of finality, yet Neji knew that that would not be all.

"I'll be back in the morning," Sasuke had said. A powerful shiver rocked through Neji's body, making him shake uncontrollably at the thought. Back for more. And what could Neji do about it? Absolutely nothing.

What would he do when he came back? What more did he have in store for them? Neji couldn't even think that far. His mind was still spinning and he felt faint. The tears felt strange on his cheeks. He hadn't cried in years. He hadn't been physically hurt and yet the tears continued to fall.

_Oh, Tenten…_ The pain he felt in his chest, the horrible aching sadness was far worse than any physical pain that Sasuke could have inflicted upon him. He began to wish that he'd been beaten instead. That was a sort of pain that he could stand. Not this.

"I'm sorry, Neji….I'm so sorry…." Tenten blubbered, trying to get her crying back under control.

That snapped Neji out of his pitiful trance. "Don't say that!" he said sharply. "Do not say that, Tenten. You did nothing wrong."

She tried to twist a bit and look toward him, but then she stopped. Neji wondered if it was because of her awkward position or because she was too embarrassed to meet his all-knowing gaze. The second option made him slip back into despair for a second.

He had always been there to protect her on every single mission. She supported him and he protected her: that was the trade-off. That was the given. But today he had been weak. When she had needed him, truly needed him…he had failed her. Their understanding was shattered. Neji felt like there was a void in the pit of his stomach, dark and cold, growing larger and pushing them farther and farther apart. After he had seen that, how could Tenten ever want to look at him again? He could tell how much pain she was in, both emotionally and physically. No, it unlikely that she would ever be the same again, at least, Neji knew that he wouldn't be if he was in her position.

And besides that, how was he ever supposed to get those images and sounds out of his mind? Even now that it was over, Neji could still hear everything like a dull ringing in the back of his head.

All of the times he had imagined her naked, smiling up at him, her skin warm and smooth under his gentle touch…

But now all would be able to imagine was this: Tenten's crumpled form lying on the stone floor, abused and bloodied, her flesh raw and red, her hair fallen from its usual design and tangled at her shoulders, tears staining her face, and another man's semen oozing out of her.

_How could I have been so useless? _he thought miserably. _I should have been able to do something. I should have been able to stop this from happening to her._

Inside, he was a wreck, but being a Hyuga he had to be practical. Sasuke was going to return in the morning and if they didn't want things like this to happen again, then they needed a plan.

"Tenten," he began. He spoke very slowly in order to make sure that his tone did not express all of the things he was feeling. He wanted to be as calm and comforting as possible, for her sake. "Do you have any chakra?"

There was a long hesitance before she replied. "I don't think so."

He grimaced. She'd taken the question wrong. Instead of realizing that he was trying to escape to save her from more horrors, she must have thought that was just moving on with the original plan, not really caring about what had happened to her. But he hadn't meant for the comment to be insensitive! After all, asking if she was alright would just be silly. Neither of them were alright and that was obvious. Asking would just be pretense.

"How strong are those handcuffs?" he asked, half-ashamed to be talking to her.

She reluctantly tested them and replied, "Chakra infused, just like the chains."

_Damn it! _How were they supposed to escape under these circumstances? "Do you think—after a few hours—that you'll be able to walk?" Only her hands were bound whereas Neji was stuck to the wall.

Once again she was slow to answer him and each second of silence cut deep into his heart. "I…yes, of course. I'm sure I can."

His Byakugan had seen the damage Sasuke had inflicted on her, and for a moment he doubted that she would be able to walk after all. But Tenten's strength had often surprised him before.

"Ok…" he said. "Then once you think you can walk again, let's explore the room a bit. Maybe we can find something useful….a loose stone or something. Don't rush it, though. Take your time. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

She still did not look at him, but he saw the back of her head nod.

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Hours later when the night was thick and black, Tenten teetered around on shaky legs, wandering blindly through their prison cell. Neji spoke quietly, giving her direction through the darkness. With every step, dried blood cracked off of her legs and fell to the ground. Every movement was agonizing. She bit her lips to contain little moans of pain.

"To your left, about three steps. That one's sticking out a little bit. Try wiggling it." Tenten took three steps to her left and then stopped. "Ok, bend down a bit…a bit more…stop!" She halted abruptly. With her wrists trapped in the handcuffs, she could have to test the rocks some other way. "Try wiggling it with your jaw, Tenten," Neji instructed. She thrust her head forward and rubbed at the stone that jutted out from the wall.

A squeak of pain escaped her lips.

"The snake bite?" Neji gritted his teeth in anger. How stupid of him to forget about that! "I'm sorry, Tenten. Never mind about the stone. This is too hard for you right now."

"No…I can do it."

She wriggled at the stone for a few moments more but it never moved.

"Stop, Tenten, please. There's no need. It was a stupid plan. Even if you did get a stone to move, you could never attack Sasuke in your current state. I'm sorry I was so thoughtless." He'd only wanted to get out of here before Sasuke could do anything else…but it was useless.

Tenten sighed and tottered across the room on shaky legs, back to the sound of Neji's voice. She lowered herself to the floor beside him.

He stopped talking and looked down at her. He knew that she couldn't see him, that she couldn't see the tears that pricked at the corners of his light grey eyes and threatened to come spilling out all over again.

He wanted to say something to express how_ sorry_ he was, but nothing came to mind. His voice was choked out with emotion any way.

"Your hands must hurt…" Tenten said softly.

Neji made a little sound of acknowledgment. This was the first time he had even thought about it. Yes, they hurt terribly from being chained up for a whole day.

"I'm really…._really _sorry, Tenten," he whispered.

"It's not your fault." There was such a strong note of comfort in her voice that Neji almost believed her.

"No, it is. I was too weak to protect you." Against his resolve, new tears began to fall and she could certainly hear it in his voice. "I failed you, Tenten." She said nothing. Neji couldn't bear it, he squeezed his eyes shut and fought to choke down waves of sobs. His body lurched forward like hiccups and it made the chains rattle.

Suddenly, Neji felt something against his body. He gasped and opened his eyes again. It was Tenten! She had shifted over and was kneeling in front of him, her head resting on his shoulder. He hadn't even heard her moving.

"Shhhh…" she urged him. Her warm breath tickled his collarbone. "Don't think like that. This wasn't fair. None of it. Just because there was nothing we could do doesn't make us weak. You're….you're the strongest ninja I know, Neji. I mean it. I've always admired you for your skills and your resolve. You're truly a genius."

He could hardly focus on what she was saying. His eyes were still blurred with tears and the feeling of her body resting against his was mind-numbing. But her next words came to him clearly.

"Did you mean it? I mean….what Sasuke said. Is it true?"

That Neji cared for Tenten, _loved_ her, even? Yes, it was true, but he felt way too ashamed to admit it after he had failed her so miserably. What kind of love allowed for rape?

"Neji, do you?" she prompted him. Her voice was small and vulnerable.

He sucked in a shaky breath. "I'm always trying to look out for you, Tenten. You're the best partner that I could ever ask for."

"Oh…" He felt her face move against him as she tried not get upset again. "I'm really sorry that you had to see that, Neji," she whispered. "That was cruel of Sasuke. I hope…"

Neji heard her fight down a sob, just like he had been doing. "I hope you'll be able to look at me the same as before. I know you must think—"

"I love you," he spat out, terrified of the thoughts he saw swirling around in her mind.

_Whore, slut, filthy, ruined, used, dirty, defiled….that she was impure now…that no one would ever want her again_

"I love you, Tenten. I always have and I always will. This changes nothing."

He heard the sob escape her lips, but it was mixed with something happy.


	7. Chapter 6

"No chakra, no hand signs, no escape," Sasuke said slowly, emphasizing each word to make the helplessness seem even more profound. He was enjoying the new grimace on Neji's face. It was a strong look, as if whatever had happened the night before had restored Neji's fighting spirit.

_Oh well_, Sasuke thought, _I'll fix that._

"Unchain me," Neji demanded, "and let's settle this properly, like shinobi."

"That's pointless. You have no chakra, remember? What can you possibly do?"

"Unchain me and we'll see how much chakra I have."

Sasuke laughed and rolled his neck to look lazily over at Tenten. "What do you think, Tenten? Should I?" She glared at him and said nothing. Her hair was still a tangled mess from the night before and the dried blood from the snake bite on her chin made her face look a bit frightening. "What happened last night? Did the two of you have a nice heart to heart?" Sasuke teased. When no one made any response, he lit up a bit, "Oh? Maybe more than a little heart to heart? Maybe Tenten loved my dick so much she wanted more, huh? You fuck Neji last night, Tenten? Is that it?"

"Shut your mouth," Neji hissed.

"No?" Sasuke sighed, mock disappointment dripping from him. "Aww…well don't be jealous, Neji. Girls have always gravitated toward me."

Neji shook his head, disgusted at the Uchiha's pompous, insensitive words. "You are _so_ arrogant," he muttered, "and that will be your downfall."

Sasuke smirked, "The only downfall you should be worrying about right now, is yours."

A second later, Neji felt the world shift slightly. He looked over to Tenten and saw her face crack down the center like an old branch. "Tenten!" he gasped. Her broken nose peeled apart in slivers, curling back onto her cheeks. Her chin split down the center, in between the two holes from the snake bite, and opened to reveal a bloody void.

_It's genjutsu! _Neji realized, fighting desperately to remain calm as Tenten's face peeled apart before his eyes. He took deep, metered breaths. He tried to release himself from the jutsu, but it didn't work. Sasuke's Sharingan were too powerful to combat.

_It's only genjutsu, _he told himself, _this isn't really happening. Stay calm, Neji, you can take it. _

Her body slowly broke apart and then the room splintered around her until nothing was left in focus. Then Sasuke stepped in front of him, clearer than a cloudless day, standing out against the blur. His eyes were blood red.

"This is a powerful genjutsu that Itachi liked to use," he said, glaring down at Neji with his new Mangekyo Sharingan activated. "Do you recognize it?"

He did recognize it. It was the same jutsu that Itachi had used on Kakashi when he had first returned to Konoha. But when he tried to answer, Neji found that his mouth was stuck shut. His vocal chords were frozen. No noise could come out of him whatsoever. His eyes widened a bit.

_Stay calm, stay calm. _

Sasuke drew his katana and poked the tip against Neji's chest, just as he had done to Tenten the day before. But instead of gently cutting through Neji's tunic shirt, he stabbed the blade straight through him.

The pain was all-consuming. Neji squeezed his eyes shut and urged himself to endure as Sasuke pulled the blade out and stuck it in again, a bit lower, in his stomach. A scream of pain bubbled up inside of him, but it couldn't come out. In this reality that Sasuke had created, Neji would be forced to suffer in silence.

"Pain is all in the mind," Sasuke said. "All types of pain." He drew the katana back and stabbed in into Neji thigh so hard that is went straight through. Unable to make any sounds, Neji lurched forward as if he was about to vomit, but his mouth stayed shut. "Not only physical pain like my sword cutting through your flesh, but also emotional pain." He pulled the katana out of Neji's thigh. It was dripping with blood, but a second later, the blood vanished into thin air and the wounds on Neji's body closed.

"Once, my brother used this on me to make me stronger, to try and make me understand," Sasuke explained. He carefully slipped the katana back into its sheath on his waist. Neji's breath hissed in and out of his nose in puffs. The wounds were gone but the stabbing pain remained. "He showed me how he murdered our entire clan. I remember how painful that was for me to watch," Sasuke smiled coldly. "Now perhaps I'll share that feeling with you."

The blurry room melted away and suddenly Neji was back to his childhood. He was standing next to his father looking at his little cousin Hinata. She was so cute! And his uncle was there, too. His uncle's face was smiling down at him. Suddenly the smile was gone and a stern expression stared down at him. The words of a strange jutsu came pouring out from his mouth and a searing pain slammed through Neji's head.

The moment that they had branded him, marked him forever as a slave. His own uncle had destined him for nothing but servitude despite his talents. The pain in his forehead was not as terrible as the emotional blow he felt as the memory replayed again and again.

And then the scene changed and he saw his father writhing in pain. "Neji!" he moaned. "Remember your destiny…always…remember…"

_Father!_ Neji wanted to cry out, but his mouth could not move. He stared down at his father's twitching form, incapable of speech or movement. His father's hand reached out, clutching at nothing, trying to touch Neji's face. But it faltered just a hair away and fell almost in slow motion. When the hand finally reached the ground with a soft thud, Neji knew that his father was dead.

He felt the loss again as fresh as the first time it had happened. The pain in his chest grew and burned all the way up into his face and eyes.

_No….I'm not going to cry in front of this bastard again, _Neji thought furiously. He choked the pain down and tried to think of things outside of the genjutsu, like how his uncle had later apologized and explained that Neji's father had chosen to be the one to die in his place. But soon the memory began to replay again and Neji could do nothing but watch it.


	8. Chapter 7

After the torturous genjutsu was finally released, Neji was completely exhausted. Whatever chakra he had built up over the last day or so was now drained once more. He hung limply from the chains, head down, eyes closed. The pain from the mental stab wounds was slowly fading, but his head was still spinning and pounding.

As the world slipped away from him, he heard Tenten's soft, frightened voice saying, "Neji? Neji!" And then everything faded away into unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He woke again in the dark. He was still incredibly weak, too weak even to activate his Byakugan and see in the blackness. His face hurt, his arms hurt from the chains, his back hurt from slumping over—his neck especially. The feathery strands of hair that hung down in his face tickled, so he twitched upon waking. A little noise at his lap startled him.

"Neji?"

It was such a small little voice and it came from right beneath his drooping head. He opened his eyes but saw nothing. Should he try to use Byakugan? No…he couldn't gather enough chakra. The hours and hours of tsukuyomi had damaged him badly. So badly, in fact, that he barely recognized Tenten's voice.

"Neji? Are you….are you alright?"

Could he talk now? He was frightened to try. Seventy-two hours of feeling the Hyuga curse mark cut through his forehead, seventy-two hours of watching his father die, and not once had he been able to squeak out so much as a peep. During the last few hours, every time he had tried to reply to his father's dying pleas Sasuke had stabbed him. By the end, there had been no place left on his body to wound, and so Sasuke had had to heal him within the genjutsu and start over all over again.

Was he alright? Trembling slightly, Neji's lips parted and he choked out, "I'm not sure, yet."

Tenten moved her head a bit and Neji realized that she was lying down, her head resting near his knees. When she spoke again, Neji noted that her voice was a little different than he remembered. Perhaps she was dehydrated. Perhaps it wasn't only his perception that was off.

"You've been out for over a week," she said softly.

_A week?! _Neji couldn't believe it! How could he have been unconscious for over a week? He felt like he'd just been with his father a moment ago. Then a new thought struck him like a blow to the head. _Tenten has been alone with Sasuke for an entire week. _

"What's happened?" he asked hoarsely. "What…what did he…? Are you alright?" His heart started pounding, terrified of the answer.

"I'm in pretty bad shape, Neji," she said quietly. He could hear the veiled fear in her voice and it made his stomach turn inside out. She wasn't doing well.

"Don't worry, Tenten," he said. He straightened up a bit and winced in pain. "I'm getting a little better, I think. Maybe I can build up some chakra and—"

"No…don't try," Tenten muttered. "You'll only waste what little strength you have left. We need every ounce of it just to survive this." Her voice was almost toneless and it made Neji scrunch up his face in surprise.

Her lack of fighting spirit was disturbing to him. What had Sasuke done to her over the past few days? Her tone of voice was so small and robotic, like she'd been stripped of her spunk and emotion. Was this the Tenten that he knew and loved? Neji gritted his teeth despite the throbbing pain and growled out, "What are you saying, Tenten? If we don't try to escape then we'll die here!"

She only sighed. "It's useless, Neji. He'll kill us both when he wants to. Or he'll let us go when he's done with us. Resisting just leads to more torture. It's not….it's just not worth it."

Not worth it? How could she say that?! Had she lost all sense of hope? Neji pondered again whether or not to try and use Byakugan to see inside of her and understand what she was truly feeling, but he was too physically and too emotionally weak. What if he looked inside of her and saw more physical damage than she could overcome? What if he saw in her an amount of emotional damage that she would never be able to overcome?

What if he discovered that Sasuke had broken her while he'd been unconscious? That would be too much for Neji to handle, knowing that once again he had done nothing to help her when she truly needed him. So he decided against using his eyes, after all.

"Tenten…" Neji ventured. He tried to keep the strongest tone possible. If she was lost, then he would have to be strong for the both of them. "We can't give up hope," he said. "Someone from the Hidden Leaf will have noticed that we've been out of touch by now. I'm sure they're sending a team here. And even if they're not…" his voice trailed off unconvincingly.

What if no one was coming? There was just no way that they could ever….

_No. I can't give into despair, too, _he thought. "If we give up hope then we're just sitting targets for Sasuke."

Her voice came back even smaller than before. "We already are."

Neji squeezed his eyes shut, he gritted his teeth, and he bowed his head low. Sasuke had indeed shattered her spirit. The images of his father dying were quickly pushed to the back of his mind as imagined scenes of Sasuke torturing her into hopelessness filled his mind.

_He tortured my mind, he knocked me out, and he left me unconscious for a week, leaving her completely alone. He knew that I was her strength, just like he knew that she was my greatest weakness. And while I sat here, unconscious, completely unresponsive to her pain—he went on torturing her, probably he mocked her….told her…that I didn't care…_

"That…_ugh!_ Damn him!" Neji barked out, losing himself in anger. "No matter what happens, I swear to you that I will make Sasuke pay for everything that he has done to you. Every time he's hit you, every time he's _touched_ you," he spat out, livid.

On the ground, Tenten shifted a bit, surprised by him. She pushed her head against his right knee, but she said nothing. There were no words left, nothing that she or anyone else could say to change the way she felt.

**Thank you everyone for reading the story so far and especially for your reviews, they really help me get the motivation to keep writing^^**

**Let me know what you think~ **


	9. Chapter 8

It was a windy day in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The millions of tree branches in the forest surrounding the village swayed to and fro, making everything seem to swirl.

"It's not usually this windy here," Shikamaru Nara said grumpily. He hated wind. It was annoying and it often messed up spy ninja's cover during missions.

Temari forced a little laugh, saying, "Don't be so grumpy, Shikamaru. You should be used to wind by now, thanks to my wind jutsu."

"Yeah well…I've never liked it." He spoke low and stared straight ahead into the village that they were entering. He was already an apathetic person but the unfoldings of the most recent events were making him more glum than usual.

When they reached the heart of the city, they slowed down and walked the rest of the way to the Fifth Hokage's office. Leaves were blowing everywhere, scattering across the street like old bones. They brushed over Shikamaru and Temari's feet as they walked.

"Let me do the talking," Temari said softly, reaching out to touch his arms. Shikamaru made no reply, but Temari knew that he would do go along with her suggestion.

With a sharp knock on the door Temari pushed it open and poked her head inside. "Lady Tsunade?"

The response was immediate. "Come in!"

With a quick glance at one another, Shikamaru and Temari entered the Hokage's room. They came to stand before her, giving a quick nod of respect. "Well?" Tsunade prompted. Her brown eyes looked uncertain.

"Lady Tsunade," Temari began, her voice steady and professional. "We may have disturbing news."

"About?"

"Regarding Neji and Tenten. They were supposed to meet Lord Kazekage over four days ago in the Village Hidden in the Sand, but they never arrived."

Tsunade frowned and it made her forehead crease. "Perhaps they've ran into some trouble along the way. We haven't heard anything from our outposts, have we?"

"No, Lady Hokage."

"Then…" she hesitated and brushed some blonde hair out of her face, "if anything serious had occurred, then we would have heard something by now. Don't you think?"

Temari pursed her lips nervously. "Gaara has a bad feeling about it, my lady. He says that Neji isn't one to miss an appointment."

That seemed true. Tsunade didn't know all that much about the new jonin, but everyone seemed to respect him. It seemed unlikely that he would be one to get easily side tracked on route to an appointment as important as one with the Kazekage.

"Four days late, huh?"

"Yes. And there's no sign of them anywhere. We're very concerned that something might have happened to them."

As she spoke, Shikamaru stood beside Temari, stiff as a board. He was extremely worried about his friends. They'd been close ever since the end of the chunin exams. Neji was one of the best ninja that he had ever known, and the idea that he'd simply vanished along with Tenten was more than disturbing.

The two women went on speaking for some time. They spoke like professionals—only vaguely concerned with the subject matter.

_This is Neji and Tenten we're talking about, _Shikamaru thought, getting frustrated. _Something has to be done immediately. We can't just sit around waiting anymore. We've done that for four days already!_

"Lady Tsunade," Shikamaru interrupted. Temari turned her head to shoot him a look. "I propose that we send a team after them at once. If something happened, they might not have much time left."

There was a short silence during which both of the blonde women watched him with even expressions. They glanced at one another and then back at Shikamaru. He wasn't usually one to get big ideas about anything ambitious.

"Okay, very well," Tsunade said after a long time. "If you're concerned, Shikamaru…and if the Kazekage is concerned as well then we'll send a team."

"We'll go," Shikamaru said at once. Temari raised an eyebrow but an expression of agreement quickly masked the surprise. Tsunade gave them both a stern nod.

"Alright, but take a third ninja with you, someone with a medical background. If they're in trouble then they might need that sort of help, too." She paused for a moment to think and then added, "Sakura, maybe. I don't think she's on any assignment right now."

The pair of shinobi nodded their thanks and left. Shikamaru was walking much faster than usual and Temari had to hurry to catch up. She was starting to worry about him. He was clearly not taking the others' disappearance well.

After a ten minute walk, they arrived at Sakura's house and found her there in the middle of dinner. Temari went in and explained the situation. Shikamaru stood frowning in the doorway, arms folded across his chest.

"Of course," he heard Sakura's small voice saying from the dining room. "I'll join you outside in a minute. Just let me get my things."

They waited for her outside the door in the fading twilight. The wind was blowing Temari's hair around, making the four little sprouts of yellow look a bit frightening. Shikamaru leaned his head against the wall and sighed darkly.

"Come on," Temari said. Her voice was warm and comforting for once. "Try not to get upset. I'm sure they're fine. It's _Neji _that we're talking about, after all. He can take care of himself."

He flicked his eyes up to meet her and their gazes held. She could see the veiled distraught in his eyes and it startled her. She hadn't seen him this upset since the failed mission to bring Sasuke back to the village all of those years ago.

_At least he's hiding his feelings better this time, _she thought. If she hadn't known him so well then she wouldn't have known that he was close to tears of panic.

With a sigh, Temari reached out and touched his arm. "It'll be alright, sweetie," she whispered tenderly. "We'll find them. I promise."


	10. Chapter 9

**Warning: This chapter contains dark material that some readers may not be comfortable reading. **

"You're hungry, huh?" Sasuke sneered down at Tenten. "Didn't I just feed you a few days ago?" He shook his head and clicked his tongue with mock disappointment. "You're getting greedy, now, aren't you?"

The mockery, the cold-hearted jeers, the arrogance…Neji could barely keep quiet whenever Sasuke spoke, it was just so frustrating! Apparently he had at least given Tenten some food at some point when Neji was unconscious. On the other hand, Neji's stomach was eating itself. He hadn't had a scrap to eat in over a week, now. He was extremely weak and without any nourishment, building up chakra was not possible—therefore, escape was not possible. It was all Neji could do not to give up hope like Tenten had done. Her blank expression was heartbreaking to see. Neji tried to flash her encouraging looks whenever possible, but they didn't seem to have any effect.

_Someone will come for us,_ he thought, trying to encourage himself. _They'll be coming soon. We've just got to stay alive until then. _

"Here, slut. If you're so hungry then I suppose I can be nice and feed you again."

_Slut?_ Neji's brow creased angrily. How dare he say that to Tenten! She was a virtuous woman and a victim of rape, how dare he say anything against her? _These are the type of things she's heard for the last week, _Neji thought miserably. _No wonder she's so discouraged. _

A little moan from Tenten snapped Neji out of his thoughts. He looked up and his eyes widened at once, seeing Sasuke's drooping pants, and how he brandished his nearly limp penis at Tenten's face. She sat still though she shivered slightly. Her eyes were closed and her head hung low. That seemed to annoy Sasuke.

"Go on, you know what to do," he snapped, smacking her on the head. She gave a little squeak and raised her head so that his member hovered only an inch from her quivering lips.

For a week Sasuke had ravaged her body in any way that he could think of, but during those long days Neji had been unconscious. The idea of him seeing her be submitted this way…it made Tenten hesitate. Heat filled her cheeks and her gaze fell again, causing Sasuke to hit her once more.

"That's enough…" Neji snarled.

"Enough?" Sasuke laughed, grabbing Tenten's face roughly and tapping himself against her lips. They were clamped shut as were her eyes. Her face was red with shame. "We're just getting started!"

Neji felt his own face growing red as he half-watched Tenten squirm while Sasuke rubbed his hardening member all over her face. She was still naked and Neji could see even without Byakugan that she'd endured a serious amount of skin trauma already, and her inner thighs were caked with old blood and other fluids. It was physically painful for him to look at her in such a state, but never meeting her eyes seemed traitorous.

_I have to be there for her, _Neji had thought, many times over the past day, _I've failed her enough already. Somehow I have to try and protect her. _

"Open your fucking mouth, bitch!" Sasuke shouted. This time he kicked her right in the gut. When she opened her mouth to gasp in pain, he shoved it straight to the back of her mouth. She quickly started gagging.

Neji shut his eyes, feeling disgusted. Poor Tenten…but what could he do? He thought and thought, but nothing came to mind. The disturbing sounds of Tenten's gagging and Sasuke's groans of pleasure were tearing his concentration to shreds.

After a minute or two of fiercely thrusting into her throat, Sasuke took a step back. He was now hardened to full length and glistening with Tenten's spit. In that moment of respite, Neji choked out, "Don't do it, Ten'. You don't have to do it."

Tenten glanced over at him just for a second, to ashamed to hold his gaze. Neji felt his heart breaking for her. _This is what she's been reduced to…_

"If he tries to do that again, you just bite him," Neji advised through a clenched jaw. After everything Sasuke had done thus far, Neji would have liked nothing more than to see Tenten bite his penis straight through.

"Tenten knows better than to bite," Sasuke said smugly. "Don't you, you little whore?"

"Do_ not_ talk to her like that!" Neji shouted, starting to really lose it again. He jerked hard against the chains despite his lack of strength and leaned forward as far as he could. "_Get away from her_."

Sasuke froze and simply stared at the Hyuga, totally taken aback. Apparently he was going to have to try a little harder than he'd expected if he wanted to break Neji, too. After a moment, a comical expression fell over his face.

"Sorry, Tenten. Looks like you've lost your dinner."

Her eyes had been closed, but now she perked up in surprise. He would stop? _Thank goodness…_

For a second, Neji felt happy over the small victory. He had saved Tenten for now. But soon he realized the weight of what he had done. It took all of his mental strength not to lean back against the wall in fear as Sasuke rubbed his shaft up at down and discarded his pants all together, striding across the room toward him.

When he was only a foot away from Neji's kneeling form, Sasuke leaned down and slapped the man's face, just as he had done over a week ago. It was painful, but Neji neither made any sound nor looked away from his attacker's cold gaze for long.

"I'm sick of your defiant mouth, Neji," Sasuke droned. "Time to put it to good use."

Neji stared up at the Uchiha. Shock consumed his expression as he was hit with the realization of what was intended. Sasuke laughed down at him. Tenten gasped.

"Go ahead! You don't want Tenten to do it, so now it's your turn."

"No!" Tenten protested, her voice trembling at the thought. "No…no Sasuke, please, that's not what Neji meant! He didn't mean to—"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped. He reached out faster than the eye could register and grabbed fistfuls of Neji's long brown hair, jerking the man's head toward his intimidating erection. The shock on Neji's face was now mixed with appall.

Sasuke kicked Neji just as he had kicked Tenten, but it did not work to make his mouth open up. Instead, Neji just squeezed his eyes shut and a hiss of pain came out through his nose. "Open your mouth, boy," Sasuke demanded, his tone full of arrogance and hatred.

"No, Sasuke, please! Please come back!" Tenten cried, growing more and more hysterical. She was crying and the tears betrayed themselves in her tone of voice. "Please, I'll do it! Let me!"

Sasuke simply ignored her and kicked Neji again. _It's about time…she hasn't cried in days. _

"Please, please…" she moaned, choking on sobs. The idea of Sasuke forcing himself upon Neji too, was unbearable. Neji was a proud man, she doubted that he could ever overcome something like being raped by another male. She felt her head start to spin. "_I want it! Please, my lord, please_…"

"Shut up!" he shouted again, annoyed with her pretentious words. He jerked Neji's head back by the hair and pressed his shaft against the man's mouth and chin. Lowering his voice slightly, Sasuke snarled in Neji's face, "Go on, Hyuga…suck it. And if you bite…" his voice trailed off menacingly, "I swear on Itachi's soul that I will _kill _Tenten. I'll let one of my snakes rape her. And trust me when I tell you that they're no where near as kind as I am." He smiled cruelly down at Neji, the threat clearly made.

Neji fought to hide his wet eyes, now swimming with tears, but he knew that Sasuke could see them anyway_. Kill Tenten?_ No…he couldn't let her die. Not for this, not for anything. Choking down all of his pride, Neji reluctantly parted his lips, hating himself even as he did so.

"That's a good boy," Sasuke teased, slipping himself in.

_Don't cry, Neji. Don't cry, _he urged himself as a triumphant Sasuke thrust in and out of Neji's awkward mouth. He could feel the other man's member inside of his own body. It made his stomach turn and his skin crawl. He'd never felt so ashamed in all of his life. _This is a noble deed. You're doing this to protect Tenten. It'll be over soon. _

In the other corner of the room, he could vaguely hear Tenten crying over the sound of Sasuke's satisfied groans. "Come one, suck it!" he snapped, using his hands in Neji's hair to jerk his head back and forth. He jammed himself deep into the Hyuga's throat. Without meaning to, Neji started gagging hard. He struggled to suck air in through his nose and keep from choking.

"_Stop…please!_" Tenten begged, but Sasuke paid her no mind.

"Use your tongue, bitch."

Neji squeezed his already shut eyes even tighter and tried to drown out all of the sounds around him. His face was flaming red, his throat was working hard to hold down vomit as he was made to gag again and again and his skull burned from Sasuke pulling on his hair. He wanted it to end. He wanted it to be over so that he could make himself forget this and never think on it again. Surely, it would go faster if Neji tried a bit harder, but he just couldn't bring himself to do anything. Breathing and stopping himself from full-out crying were hard enough.

After what felt like ages—after the corners of Neji's mouth were raw and bleeding, after his skull had gone numb from Sasuke's fists tearing at his hair—he finally felt the shock of Sasuke's release in his mouth. Neji made a noise of horror and tried pull away, but there was no where to go.

"You better swallow that. That's the only food you'll be getting," Sasuke jeered, keeping his penis half way down Neji's throat until he was certain that it had all been swallowed. When he finally released Neji's hair and pulled his sagging member out of the man's mouth, Neji sputtered and spit whatever remnants of the semen that he could out onto the floor. But it was too late, he'd been forced to swallow most of it or risk drowning.

With his mouth empty, there was nothing left to block Neji from crying out his chest full of sobs. How could this have happened to him? To _him? _His head drooped and the tangles of long brown hair fell around him like a curtain proclaiming his shame.

As he left, Sasuke smiled and said, "You should be grateful. I could have let you starve."


	11. Chapter 10

It was cold in the night and the silence echoed eerily around the stone room. The door had been left open and the hallway was just as dark as the room itself.

"He left the door open," Tenten had said softly after Sasuke was gone. She was only in handcuffs, maybe she could try to flee.

Flee naked through the woods, devoid of chakra, and leave Neji behind? A ridiculous thought. She had looked again and saw the open door for what it really was: just another blatant mockery of how hopeless they actually were.

Now, hours later, the silence was still clinging to them. Neji hadn't said a word. He couldn't. His mouth had betrayed him. He wanted to cut his tongue out…to burn his mouth away…to get rid of any part of him that had been used by Sasuke in such a way.

He was Neji Hyuga, genius of the Hyuga Clan. Despite his birth into the wrong branch of the family and despite the curse mark, Neji had still been able to overcome all of that and excel as a great shinobi. He was well-respected by everyone.

How could he have been so pathetically helpless?! How could one single missing-nin have captured him, rendered him completely useless as a ninja, and then violated him in such a way? He was utterly humiliated.

How was he supposed to go on as a ninja after this? How could he ever call himself a shinobi again?

How could he ever look at Tenten again? The idea made him start to tremble even harder. The idea that Tenten had witnessed him with another man's erection forced into his mouth, semen dripping down his throat…

He vaguely wished that Sasuke would return to their cell in the night, katana drawn and flashing. He wished to die.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Which route do you think that they took?" Temari ventured. The rescue team was on their way, dashing at lightning speed in the direction of the Land of Wind.

"I assume that they stayed near to the river. Neji always liked to camp smart," Shikamaru replied.

After asking a few questions when they'd first departed, Sakura had remained mostly silent. She could sense the tension in the other two shinobi—especially Shikamaru, who was far more focused and tense than usual.

All she knew what that Neji and Tenten had missed an appointment with Gaara and were now missing. What did the team need a medical ninja for? How much trouble were they expecting?

_There's no way that anything serious has happened, _Sakura thought matter-of-factly, _there's no wars going on right now. And besides, Neji has never been one to get into more trouble than he can handle. I bet the Hokage is just over-reacting. _

Shikamaru broke into her thoughts, saying, "Everyone keep an eye out for any signs that they came this way. Once we find their trail then we should be able to follow it straight to them—where ever they are."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Down the hall from where Neji and Tenten were being held, Sasuke sat in a different stone room that looked very much the same. He had set up camp there, but it wasn't much of a bedroom. There was a stool in the corner and some blankets thrown down on the stones that he could sleep on. There as food, but not much of it.

There were people who wanted to help him. There were people who told him that they were on his side and people that seemed to like following him. There was Karin…

Karin. Her obsession with him was tedious. He wondered what she would think if she saw what he had been doing over the past week or so. Actually…she probably had sensed what he was up to. She wasn't far away. He'd told her to wait at the place where they'd first run into Neji and Tenten and let him know immediately if she sensed that anyone was on their trail.

Yes, Karin's presence had been remotely comforting to him from time to time, but no matter how many people joined Sasuke, they could never fill the giant, gaping whole in his heart that the Uchiha Clan had left behind. If only he had known the truth about Itachi so many years ago. Maybe he would be a different person today.

Maybe happiness would be a possibility if things had been different.

But now, the only presence that was always with him was that of Orochimaru. And how he _hated _Orochimaru.

"My, my, my, Sasuke…" the snake like voice hissed in his ear, tickling him and making the black hair on the back of his neck stand up. "What a naughty boy you've been lately, hmm?"

Sasuke brushed his hand over his ear, trying to whisk the presence away. He glanced back and—of course—no one was there. But still, the voice was real and it was always taunting him, flicking a snake tongue into his ear, making him jump. Making him angry.

"What in the world are you playing at here?" the sannin whispered, amused and intrigued. "I never realized how promiscuous you truly were."

"Shut up," Sasuke muttered hatefully. He was sitting on the blankets, but now he lay down and tried to get comfortable, hoping that if he ignored Orochimaru long enough, he would go away.

No such luck. "But you've always been a surprising one. That's why I wanted you so much."

Sasuke made a face of disgust and swiped at his ear again, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't shake the tickle away. "You wanted me for my Sharingan. You always made that perfectly clear to me," he replied, bitterness emanating from him.

"Certainly. But I enjoyed every part of you, Sasuke. You were such an entertaining young man."

Sasuke scowled. Damn Orochimaru, always reminding him, always making him relive those humiliating moments when he had learned how to serve Lord Orochimaru best and how to harness as much of his chakra as he possibly could.

He didn't want to think back to those moments when he had been so vulnerable and so lost in his desperate search for power. _He loves to remind me how low he brought me before he raised me up, _Sasuke thought, anger growing in the pit of his stomach and making his face contort into a frightening mask. _That sick bastard…loves making me feel like this._

"That's right, I do," Orochimaru hissed in response to the Uchiha's thoughts. "And now you've revealed to me how much you _loved_ it all. "

"Damn you!" Sasuke shouted, shaking his head furiously against the itch in his ear.

"If you don't love it as I suspect, then why are you doing the same thing to Neji and Tenten, now? Hmm? Tell me that."

"Because!" Sasuke growled. He bunched the blanket up in his fists and squeezed until his fingers hurt. He hated Orochimaru. _Loathed _him desperately for everything that had happened in his life, justified or not. "Because I will make the world feel the same pain that I have felt. I'll give them back the loneliness that they gave to me and the desperation. I want them all to feel the humiliation that I have felt all of these years!"

His fists were shaking and his skin was cold. The tickle brushed against him again, intermingled with Orochimaru's chilling laugh. "What humiliation? No one knows about that but you and I, silly boy."

Sasuke bit his lip and tried to calm his trembling. He wouldn't talk again. He didn't want to acknowledge the snake-like presence any more. He didn't have to! He was Sasuke Uchiha! Nothing and no one could bring him low ever again, not even the wicked sannin. Right? Of course….so then why did he have to press his hands over his ears for hours into the night to try and drown out the venomous words? And why did he feel like he was fourteen again in Orochimaru's clutches fighting back tears and begging for power at any cost?

_Go to sleep, Sasuke, go to sleep, _he thought over and over again, begging his mind to do its job and shut out the tickle. _You have more work to do tomorrow. _


	12. Update

**Hey guys~!**

**I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a few weeks. I've had final exams and even beyond that, I've been helping my boyfriend prepare to leave my city and move back to NYC (he's graduating from our college tomorrow) :/**

**It's been pretty emotionally tough and stressful the last few weeks and I've really lacked the motivation to write. **

**If anyone has any ideas on what should happen next, I'd be interesting to hear them. I'm thinking of starting to wrap this one up...it's already pretty long...maybe two or three more chapters tops. **

**Thank you for your patience!**

**Sincerely, **

**Addison**


	13. Chapter 11

Poking her head through the door and into the darkness, Karin blinked rapidly to adjust her eyes. _Sasuke?_ She had spent most of her chakra already so she wasn't using her sensory skills at the moment. When her eyes finally stared to adjust to the measly amount of light that the open door allowed inside of the room, she was disappointed. Instead of finding Sasuke, she saw a bloodied, naked girl lying on her stomach, unmoving. Flicking her eyes away, Karin turned her head and saw Neji Hyuga chained to the wall, sitting on his knees, his body drooping as far as the bonds would allow it. His long hair hid most of his face, but she could barely make out the X of the center of the curse mark on his forehead.

She thought nothing but "where is Sasuke?" and left the doorway, expressionless.

Coming to another room down the hall, Karin raised a pale fist to knock, hoping that this room would be his. "Sasuke?" she said softly when there was no response. "Are you in there? I have news." She waited for a long time before a groggy, irritated Sasuke finally opened the door.

"What?" he snapped, glaring at her with his inky black eyes cold as ever.

She half smiled at him. "I'm sorry that I had to wake you up. But I've been scouting like you said, and—"

"What news?" he demanded.

She sighed, adjusted her glasses, and then said, "There are three chakra signatures getting close to our location. At first I thought that it was just some ninja passing by, but the more I studied it the more it became clear: they're tracking us. They're leaf ninja coming to rescue your prisoners."

Sasuke growled angrily. This was the last thing he needed right now! "Who?"

"Shikamaru Nara, Sakura, and Temari of the Sand."

"Who?"

"Gaara's sister."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. What were the three of them up to? And why were they working together? Well…whatever they thought they were going to accomplish, it wasn't going to happen. Sasuke had to make sure of that.

"How close are they?"

"Not far. Maybe an hour at most."

An hour? "Dammit!" Sasuke cried. That was too little time to formulate any kind of plan. He tried to think of a next move but Karin's annoying voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You've had almost two weeks to work on them. If you don't think you've accomplished it yet then I say just kill them and spare us all some time. If anything, this is a chance to grab three more leaf ninja. Just kill all five of them! That's a great start."

"A great start?" he repeated blankly.

"Yeah. Just think how much the death of five promising young ninja would devastate the Hidden Leaf. I mean…I know you're having _fun_ and all…with Tenten," she went on, blushing, "but there's other girls around, you know."

"The death of five promising young ninja…" he shook his head in disgust. How stupid could she be? "What good would killing Gaara's sister do me? She's not even a leaf ninja! I have no issues with the Sand." He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. If he decided to risk fighting and capturing Shikamaru and Sakura—which wouldn't be too hard—then he would have to get the sand girl also.

_No, _he repeated to himself, _I have no interest in the Sand. _

"Let's move to our other location," Sasuke finally decided, snapping his head around to face Karin once again. "Tell the others, we move immediately!" Karin stared at him over the rim of her glasses, clearly disappointed with this decision. "Go!" Sasuke shouted, losing his patience. She jumped a bit and then hurried to leave. "And go to the meeting point once you've delivered the message," he called after her. "I'll meet you there."

She left and her footsteps echoed down the hallway. Sasuke stood and listened to them, almost stuck in place. _Damn it! How could they have found us? _

When her footsteps vanished into the exterior night, he finally found the power to move again. Taking quick, purposeful steps, Sasuke stormed down the hall to the room where they were. He pushed the door open again with great force, making it slam against the back wall. Neji's head popped up at the sound.

"Get up," Sasuke snapped, walking across the room and poking Tenten with his foot. She didn't move, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice. He had already gone on to the place where Neji was chained.

As Sasuke approached, Neji woke up even more and leaned back against the wall in apprehension, no longer too proud to cower. His eyes reflected fear and his jaw was clenched tight. Sasuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key. Bending down a bit, he grabbed Neji's shackled left wrist and began to unlock it.

"We're leaving," he said, his face only inches from Neji's frightened stare.

Leaving? Neji didn't move, he didn't blink. He sat still staring blankly as his left arm fell to his side for the first time in weeks and then his right arm followed. His hands were numb. They felt like dead weights hanging from the end of his arms. Leaving? He couldn't understand…

"Get up!" Sasuke snapped again. No one was moving. "Come on, I've unchained you. Now get up. We need to go, now." He grabbed Neji's shoulder and tried to hoist him up. Despite going weeks without almost any food and losing quite a bit of weight, Neji was still a little too heavy for Sasuke to just sling up easily.

"Uggghh…" Sasuke growled, starting to lose it. "Get your fat ass up right now or I swear I'll kill you both! I don't have time for this!"

Leaving. It still did not make sense but Neji was awake enough now to understand the word. He dropped forward on his hands and knees and slowly tried to rise. It was unbearably painful. His legs had not straightened out in so long. The blood wasn't flowing properly. His hands could not feel the stone underneath of them. He gritted his teeth and fought against the agony.

"Hurry up!" Sasuke shouted. He stooped down and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt. With a violent tug he hauled him up to his feet. The fabric of Neji's white tunic shirt tore in his hands and Neji nearly fell again, but Sasuke grabbed him around the waist, swearing.

"My god...you're pathetic," he droned. "Now you've wasted my time. We need to meet up with the others now." His eyes swept over Neji's weak form, barely standing up on two shaking legs, his torn shirt falling off of his back, revealing a starved torso with peek-a-boo ribs. His hair concealed much of his face because he was looking down at the ground, trying to make sure he would stay standing, trying not to fall. Sasuke made a dismissive sound and flicked his eyes over to Tenten, who was still lying on the ground, unmoving.

Sasuke had to carry supplies and meet up with the others, he didn't feel like dragging two limp prisoners along. "Can you walk?" he asked, speaking to Neji.

"Yes."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise, not because Neji could walk but because he had said the word with such a growling tone that Sasuke couldn't even believe it. Clearly there was more work to be done. He had considered—for just a moment, seeing how weak Neji had been, that perhaps he should just leave them behind and let Shikamaru and the Sand girl find them. But now, seeing that Neji's will was still in there, still unbroken, still _defiant_…Sasuke couldn't bear to free him yet.

"Good," he said, the twisted tone returning to his voice. "Then you'll need to carry Tenten. We're leaving now and it looks like she's not strong enough to go on on her own." He turned to look back at Neji and saw that the man was glaring at him. "I'm not wasting any more time here," Sasuke went on. "Pick her up and let's get going. If not…" he smiled and shrugged. "If you can't, then…I guess we'll just have to dispose of her. Don't want her body falling into the wrong hands, now would we?"

Neji lips parted slightly but aside from that he remained frozen. His knees were so locked up from not moving for so long…his hands were numb…how was he supposed to…?

"Fuck, Neji, I'm not waiting all day."

Something wounded clicked in Neji's mind and he forgot the pain, forgot the stiffness and walked over to Tenten like a man possessed. He bent down beside her, ignoring the quivering of his thighs and calves, and slid his hands underneath Tenten's body. Her broken, bloodied, filthy, naked body that he had never touched before. He bent his head and exhaled shakily. He had imagined so many things…but never this. The pain came back in his chest worse than ever as he felt her hot skin, burning up with fever.

She made a small sound when he rolled her over onto her back and struggled to lift her. His torn shirt was hanging from his wrists and making the task even more difficult. Finally, Neji managed to stand again, Tenten's limp body dangling in his arms. He clutched her tightly against his chest and looked down at her. Her body…so beautiful…it was as he had always imagined those curves to be. But her skin was spotted with bruises and smeared with blood. It looked frightful even in the dark. Her face…the face he had always looked to for encouragement, the face upon which there was always a smile beaming back to brighten his day…it was now swollen and motionless like in death.

He was too dehydrated to cry.

"Alright. Let's go," Sasuke ordered, brushing past them and heading for the door. He stopped in the frame to look back, "And try to keep up, otherwise, like I said, I'll just get rid of her. She's nothing but dead weight now."

Neji bit his lip to hold in a dry sob and squeezed Tenten tightly to himself.


End file.
